Lobbying, manipulation, subversion and media
management in India has a new name. Niira Radia. Its exposure has left some
whining about “the India story”, while others are lamenting the “invasion of
privacy”. The 800 new Radia tapes accessed byOutlookand released partly on its website earlier this
week are an exploration of India’s underbelly. The upshot—despite the
protestations of infringed privacy—is that public policy, formation of the
Union cabinet, distribution of the country’s natural resources all became
subject to the cynical game she played using her vast “contacts” list, which
included ministers, industrialists, politicians, bureaucrats, fixers and
journalists.

AfterOutlookbrought the first tranche of the Radia tapes
into the public domain, it followed up with an investigation into the stories
contained within them—and beyond. This has thrown up startling facts, and 800
new tapes. It’s now established that there are many more dramatis personae in
the 5,800 conversations tapped by the the director-general of income tax
(investigations) in 2008-09. But some of these names—it is believed that Gujarat
chief minister Narendra Modi, Congress MP Annu Tandon and CPI(M) leader Biman
Bose are among those who spoke to Radia, among others—were not in the
tapes leaked to the media. Clearly, the leaks were selective (see:The Quarry Is Watching).

Meanwhile, on December
16, the Supreme Court directed that the spectrum allocation probe also include
the NDA years—starting from 2001—and extend into the UPA regime and its role,
till 2008. The day before, the CBI conducted raids on 34 places linked to Radia
and her associates in Delhi, along with simultaneous raids in Chennai on A.
Raja’s relatives and friends.

The initial
investigation launched by the income-tax department into Radia’s activities was
in fact not focused on the 2G spectrum allocation; it was meant as an overall
probe into her influence-mongering in telecom, gas, power, civil aviation
and mining—aggregating into something much bigger than what the CAG calls a Rs
1.73 lakh-crore scam. If an attempt were made to assess the worth of the deals
Radia was dabbling in, the figure would be mind-boggling—perhaps matching
the combined annual defence, railway and social sector budgets.

Was the investigation a sham in the first place?

The income-tax
investigation of Radia started when P. Chidambaram, then finance minister,
received a complaint dated November 16, 2007. It alleged that Radia had raised
a Rs 300 crore empire in less than nine years and that she “was an agent of
foreign intelligence agencies”. By August 2008, the income-tax department had
enough material on her to begin raids. On August 19, 2008, a decision was taken
to tap 14 of her personal and official phones, including those of her
colleagues. The tapping, authorised by then Union home secretary Madhukar
Gupta, continued for 120 days, till December 2008.

The income-tax
department’s next round of surveillance began on May 8, 2009. “For some strange
reason, surveillance had been stopped during the election period,” a senior intelligence
official familiar with the inquiry toldOutlook. After resuming, it ran for another 60 days,
and ended on July 9, 2009. The leaked tapes all belong to this 60-day period.

Through
Niira Radia, big business subverted government processes to its advantage.
The full story is yet to out.

Worried about the
national security implications of the tapes and the investigations, senior
officials shot off a letter to Rajiv Mathur, director, Intelligence Bureau, on
November 16, 2009. They pointed out that “an analysis of the intercepts
suggested that some of the conversations were quite sensitive”. If this was the
case, why did the government wait till December 15, 2010, to conduct the first
raids on Radia? And what did the CBI hope to unearth almost two years after the
income-tax department had begun investigations and interceptions? These are
uncomfortable questions no one in the government seems to have answers for.

The most disturbing
question, perhaps, is: What is the government doing about the massive
manipulation of processes that has come to light afterOutlookput up the tapes in the public domain? Consider
some segments of the taped conversations: Sunil Arora, an IAS officer, tells
Radia that a Delhi High Court judge was paid Rs 9 crore; a bureaucrat-turned-MP
tells her Union minister Kamal Nath had gone through a “spectacular decline”;
Tarun Das, a former industry lobbyist, calls Kamal Nath “Mr 15 per cent”. So
why is the government’s anti-corruption machinery ignoring the contents of the
tape ?

Power-brokers Inc had a field day

The new set of tapes
obtained byOutlookshows ministers, bureaucrats and power-brokers on Radia’s
speed-dial. Here are some revealing conversations:

Tarun Das,
former head of CII, tells Radia he had put in a word to ensure that Kamal
Nath got a berth in UPA-2 as surface transport minister. Das says Nath can
still make his “15 per cent” while doing “national service” building
highways.

JD(U) Rajya Sabha memberN.K. Singh, a
former bureaucrat, describes the UPA-2 cabinet as “Shivji ki baraat”, a
reference to the creatures that danced attendance at Lord Shiva’s wedding.

Radia also reveals in conversation that Unitech, one
key beneficiary of the spectrum allocation, had been defaulting on
payments to the Tatas. A Rs 60-crore cheque had bounced, she tellsRanjan Bhattacharya,
foster son-in-law of former PM Atal Behari Vaypayee. Bhattacharya says
Unitech thought Union commerce minister Anand Sharma was “proprietary”.
Sources toldOutlookthe Tatas are yet to be repaid Rs 400 crore out of the
Rs 1,600 crore given to Unitech.

Phone Taps: Public-private subversion?

Last week,Prime Minister Manmohan Singhfinally broke his silence about the tapes. But
he didn’t express any concern about the subversion of the entire political
process, in fact, of his cabinet itself, by corporates, as revealed by the
Radia tapes.

Instead of corruption, the PM chose to
assuage people on privacy.

Instead, Manmohan sought
to focus on assuaging corporates and other stakeholders on the question of
invasion of privacy. Strange, considering the revelations the tapes make. Even
stranger, considering his own government is in a way soon going to
institutionalise the invasion of privacy through the uid and natgrid projects.
Interestingly, while all official phone taps are cleared by the Union
home secretary, the monitoring is done by a committee headed by the cabinet
secretary. The other two members are the telecom and law secretaries. So, both
the ex-telecom secretaries now in the dock, Sidharth Behuria and P.J. Thomas,
could have accessed the tapes.

The Media

Long-standing
reputations in the media have come crashing down. Two names stand out in the
current lot of tapes. A reference toNDTV’s
Barkha Duttis revealing: speaking
to R.K. Chandolia, an aide of Raja, Radia says Barkha got a statement issued by
Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari to clear the air on certain remarks made by
DMK leader T.R. Baalu to the media.Vir
Sanghvi, associated with theHindustan Times, discusses his column with Radia before
publication: “I’ve dressed it up as a piece about how public will not
stand for resources being cornered, how we’re creating a new list of oligarchs.
It’s dressed up as a plea to Manmohan Singh, so it won’t look like an
inter-Ambani battle except to people in the know.”

“Very nice, lovely.
Thank you, Vir,” responds Radia.

Following the December
16 raids, the CBI seems to have awakened from a long hibernation. But the truth
buried in the Radia tapes, now in the Supreme Court’s custody, needs to be made
public. They must be investigated and the guilty must be punished. India is now
witnessing the ugly subversion of fair processes across several sectors. It’s
of monstrous proportions, of a scale never seen before.

It’s now beyond doubt that only selected conversations
from the Niira Radia tapes were leaked to the media. AnOutlookinvestigation reveals there were many other key
figures speaking to Radia. Here are some of the “missing” conversations:

A Congress Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh has several
conversations with Radia about the then ongoing income-tax investigations.
She is heard telling Radia that she has discussed the issue with a senior
income-tax official who has assured her that the investigations would not
harm Radia, though they might possibly harm some of her clients.

In one conversation, Radia is believed to be speaking
to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. She is discussing the transfer of
Tata’s Nano project from West Bengal to Gujarat, where the plant was
ultimately set up.

Radia is believed to be speaking to West Bengal CPI(M)
state secretary Biman Bose about Singur, where Tata’s Nano project ran
into opposition.

Investigators say they
believe the woman MP Radia is speaking to is in all likelihood Annu Tandon, the
Congress MP from Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. When contacted, Annu said she could not
recall the conversation with Radia. Her husband Sandeep (who died this year)
was a former revenue service officer who later became a “consultant” to Mukesh
Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. Both her sons work for the same company.

She admitted to knowing
several I-T officials including Milap Jain, the then DG income-tax
(investigations) who headed the Radia probe and hence knew all the details of
the conservations that Radia had till December 2008 and post May 2009.

“I know Milap through
Sandeep (her husband) and Milap’s wife Bimlesh is my friend. But I’ve never met
him for work issues,” she said. Annu admitted that she’d met Radia on several
“social” occasions but could not remember any phone call.

But three sources, all
connected to the ongoing investigation and with access to the tapped
conversations, confirmed toOutlookthat the voice discussing I-T official Jain with Radia was indeed
Annu’s.

Here, lobbyist Niira Radia is chatting with
Sunil Arora, former chairman of Air India and a serving bureaucrat. They are
discussing corruption in the judiciary. Arora is telling her how judgements
were fixed in the sealing cases in New Delhi when commercial areas and
establishments in residential areas were sealed on the orders of erstwhile
Supreme Court Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal. Arora informs Radia that a Delhi
High Court judge, Justice Vijender Jain, was paid off Rs 9 crore in a sealing
case by a middleman. The favourable judgement was written one month before it
was delivered; the middleman was even given an advance copy. Justice Jain is
referred to as Justice Sabharwal’s man.Sunil
Arora:Haan, ab to higher judiciary mein corruption bahut ho
gayi na...

Niira Radia:Haan?

SA:Higher judiciary mein corruption bahut ho gayi na...

NR: Bahut zyaada,
it’s like crazy situation...

SA:In the sealing cases,
one chap had told me that he’ll get this judgement after one month.

NR:Haan.

SA:And he told me how much
he had paid to whom.

NR:My god!

SA:I said, yaar,tum mazaak kar
rahe ho. He saidmain aapko bata
raha hoon ye judgement hai,
and he broadly outlined the judgement...ki, this is to be pronounced after one
month.To aap dekh lena, main khud hi copy le aaoonga uski...tab
next time jab ho jayegi, woh le aaya copy....He showed me, that order. He had paid 9 cr...as
he claimed, at the residence.

NR:Kaun tha yeh?

SA:I mean this litigant had
paid Rs 9 crore to that high court judge in Delhi.

In this conversation, Radia is discussing the
Justice Reghupathy case (where the Madras High Court judge alleged that a Union
minister had tried to influence him, and Dayanidhi Maran immediately pointed
fingers at A. Raja).

NR:Hi.

RKC:Hello, how are you?

NR:I’m still in Bombay,
sorry, not been in touch. How are things,tumhare mantri ka naam aa raha hai,
yahaan pe...

NR:This one also came off
the air, Rajdeep (Sardesai) he also told me the same thing; NewsX also told me
the same thing, everyone is taking his name. In the evening I met Shivnath
(Thukral), also from NDTV,sabne yehi bola kiit’s Raja’s...then I spoke toTimes of India, because (I was) talking on my gas story, so
they said that the name that is being discussed...has been told to the law
minister...is Raja.

RKC:Hmm...I don’t know, I
didn’t speak to anybody.

NR:Just letting you
(know)...that his...there are very many people who just spread his name and
it’s not true you know, that’s why I just called you....

The
Madras High Court matter also featured in a conversation with Ratan Tata on
July 7, 2009...

Ratan
Tata:...I guess the only
concern I have is that I understand that Maran is going hammer and tongs for
Raja. And I hope Raja doesn’t trip or slip or...

NR:No, he hasn’t, because
the chief justice has issued a statement that no minister called the high court
judge.

RT:Oh, really?

NR:The Chief Justice of
India has issued that statement. So that is clarified. And in any case that did
not happen and Maran is made to look a little bit of a fool.

RT:Okay.

NR:It was in any case, it
was actually the president of the bar association who said, ‘I know the
minister’, in an open court and the judge said don’t bring the cabinet
minister’s influence in my court.

In a conversation with Reliance’s Manoj Modi,
Niira discusses a bunch of NGOs being considered to file litigation and PILs.

Niira
Radia:Hello.

Manoj Modi:Hi, Niira.

NR:Hi.

MM:How are you?

NR:I’m fine, Manoj, how are
you?

MM:I’m fine. This, Raja is
with me...

NR:Haan, haan.

MM:We were just discussing
about this...our litigation, demerger and some other PIL he has in mind

NR:Haan.

MM:Now this ngo, you are
sure now, because see, we have this one NGO, that Ramjibhai Mawani, who had
done earlier for our power business...

NR:Haan.

MM:And second, the one that
you have identified from Delhi.

NR:Haan.

MM:So I am fine with
either, whatever is your comfort and preference.

NR:Well my feedback on
these people is quite good.... I’ve understood them and they’re quite okay, I
don’t get a sense that there is anything...to worry about.

MM:Haan,
so, because see, like this Rajkot guys toh we know that nothing will go wrong,
and here also even if it doesn’t go wrong, it is better to have a new person
involved. But if you have even iota of doubt then we should look here, because
this is going to be a very high-profile and high-tensile case.

NR:Well, they are already
registered na, Manoj, with the... they are a registered NGO...

MM:No, that is fine, registered
NGO is fine, but they should not back out na, at a later...

NR:No, Manoj, I...to be
honest with you, I don’t know them personally, I know the guy, though. I’ve had
him spoken to from somebody very, very...who he listens to and I don’t think
he’ll ever go back on his word.

MM:You don’t know them
personally?

NR:No, I know who...the guy
who owns the...one of them, I know one of them, there are five of them there.
The other gentleman is a JNU guy, I don’t think he’ll backtrack. I think he’s
extremely credible from what...I’ve got his reference check on him, they’re
serious guys.Inhone DLF kiya tha, DLF ne pura inke upar zor laga liya
tha, lekin unhone revert...they
did not go back. Even when they offered them money.

MM:Why don’t you do your
due diligence and finally, I’ll go...

NR:I’ve done, I’ve done
that. That’s why I only approached it when I did the due diligence. So when I
finally sawki isne DLF ke saath backtrack nahin kiya haiand the...for the pressure dlf had put on
them...

MM:(discusses with
someone)...next 2-3 days you have to decide, so I will go with your judgement
finally. We want to do 2-3-4 things, we have to...

NR:Manojmain usko
personally nahin jaanti but mujhe doubt nahin hai uske upar. I can tell you that because I think the guy’s
credible, comes from very credible background. And I don’t think he’s the sort
of guy to manoeuvre.

Another voice(probably the Raja who
is mentioned earlier): Niira, if there is more than one, there should not be a
pressure on others and all that, that is...

NR:Nahin nahin...basically
the guys are three of them, of which I know one very well personally. That I
can tell youuska, woh kabhi nahin backtrack karega, doosra JNU ka hai, very credible man,sardar hai,
hilega nahin aise.... Mujhe bilkul nahin uske upar doubt. And the third guy is absolutely cool. And he knows
my, one of my employees, Daljeet, very well. That’s how this whole thing got
put together. So when he came to me with the names, I did a check on them. Then
I made Sunil Arora talk to them,kyunki woh Sunil ko bahut achchhi tarah
se jaante hain. And I know when Sunil
steps in...whenever he’s given me a reference, he’s never been wrong, Manoj. At
least till today, I’ve never seen,mujhe koi doubt nahin hai inpe.

MM:Because see, when we
were doing this power, they had gone to Ramjibhai Mawani also. They had reached
his home and taken all kinds of bags...

MM:Haan to woh, see because kya hai, in this case it is so important for us, you
understand that, so my preference is to do with them primarily because I don’t
want the same guy to do it directly, then we want to have another general feel
also that we will have them do it.

MM:That is what I’m saying,
that is precisely what I’m saying.Isliye ek baar phir bhi, you...finish your Vaishno Devi visit. And then
during that time you just assess it once more, in your mind also, doesn’t
matter, you think about it.

NR:Okay.

MM:Then Raja will go ahead
and file, because Raja, I’m giving him all the green signal for going and
getting all the documents ready and petitions ready and everything.

NR:Hmm.

MM:Hmm?

NR:Hmm, perfect, what I’ll
do is I’ll talk to my team also, and I speak to Sunil one more time, mujhe... (line cuts)

Here Radia talks to Chandolia on the ways the
Tatas can fund a hospital in Perambalur, A. Raja’s hometown. Later, the Tata
Foundation allotted Rs 9 crore to upgrade hospitals in the district.

R.K.
Chandolia:Hello...

Niira Radia:Hi, How are you?

RKC:Haan,
good afternoon, I’m fine, how are you?

NR:I’m all right. Well, I’m
snowed under, in Bombay, or should I say washed under with the rain...

RKC:Okay.

NR:How are you?

RKC:When are you coming back
to Delhi?

NR:Not till Tuesday,
Wednesday...

RKC:Okay, okay...could you
speak?

‘(Tatas) can provide either equipment or
some wards.’

NR:I did speak to Krishna Kumar, I did speak to
him, he was supposed to tell the...take the...you see, let me tell you where
they are coming from...they’re going ahead, they want to do that, they (are)
doing the hospital in Perambalur, no problem right? But what they want to do
is, and because the charter of the trust allows them to do it only in a
particular manner, what they have to do is, they have to provide equipment for
the hospital.

RKC:Okay.

NR:Or they provide say,
certain wards, they’ll build certain wards or something. So the letter that we
have to do, it’s not a cheque-cheque that we give, we actually have to give a
letter, and based on that letter, when they start working on the hospital, on
certain areas that I decided, between the wards or equipment, then those
disbursements start happening.

Radia chats with Chandolia just after coming out
of a meeting with A. Raja, who wants a person to handle his media. Radia offers
Chandolia one of her “trusted guys”.

RKC:Hello.

NR:Hi.

RKC:Haanji, kya haal hai...

NR:I just came out of the
meeting, I met our minister,Fareed baitha hua tha baharwithout an appointment, as usual.

RKC:Todaant diya hoga
sahab ne sab ko...

NR:Kisko?

RKC:Staff walon ko daanta?

NR:Haan,
because I think he is a bit frustrated about, he said he is limiting the number
of people that meet him and he’s also changed all his staff, because, I am glad
you’ve done that.

RKC:Nahin, nahin, we have changed the entire staff in office also except 2-3
persons. Andsahab ne bola kiyou also meet people only during one specified time. Not the
entire day,ki koi aa raha hai, koi jaa raha hai...

NR:Absolutely right.

RKC:We will start work it
out...ki bhai, that nobody without
appointment...and...

NR:He was telling me about
secretary and BSNL, and he told me about his own media, so I am going to give
you a plan on how we should do it. I’ll dedicate one person who will handle
that media for him, okay?

RKC:Okay.

NR:We’ll have to find a way
whether we give him to you internally, I’ll give you one of my trusted guys who
is very well in with the media.

This conversation has the ex-CII head giving his
opinion about the new ministers in the cabinet. He says commerce minister Anand
Sharma needs to briefed and educated. He says Kamal Nath for surface transport
and highways was a surprise but he was all for Nath taking over the ministry.
He feels highway construction is a priority area and Kamal Nath is a doer and
he can also make “his 15 per cent”—that is, he can do “national service” and
make money. Das also discusses how he has decided to give up his job at the
CII.Tarun
Das:How was your Bombay
visit?

Niira Radia:Good, good, good visit.
I met Ratan also. I told him that you know what you are doing. He was very
worried about Maran, of course. I did tell him that by the way, I’m sorry I
don’t know whether I should have done that, you were meeting the Singapore PM
on Monday. He (Tata) is having a problem with his funding there. He’s just
caught up with that. He just can’t raise the money for it. For the equity part.
Where are you, town or Gurgaon?

TD:I am in town. Just
between meetings. I was with Montek (Ahluwalia of the Planning Commission) for
an hour. Discussing some strategy issues. Then I’m going to meet the CII
president at Jor Bagh and then I’m heading to Gurgaon. I have somebody coming
there at 7 o’clock. I’m actually running late for that. When are you back?
Sunday?

NR:I am back on Sunday. But
you are leaving on Sunday, right?

TD:Sunday night I’m
leaving. But am back on Tuesday morning.

NR:And your decision, you
are still standing by it?

TD:Yeah, absolutely. I just
told Montek. He wanted me to tell the PM also, so I said, yeah, I’ll do that.
We were discussing...(trails off)
one part of the meeting was whether there are any implications of this
vis-a-vis government’s relationship with me. I said no. We actually work with
you and look at you in your personal capacity. And always seen you like that.
That’s the way we have treated it. Not as CII. That link will still be there.
But I won’t have that designation. So he said what designationwillyou have? So I said I am chairman Haldia
Petrochemicals—PM has nominated me chairman of the Japan-Indo CEOs’ forum as
chairman Haldia Petrochemicals, so he said they are very comfortable with that.
They want me to get more active on the industry side, economic side from
behind. I enjoy policy work. I want to do that sort of stuff.

NR:No, going off to the US
tonight. I think Mukesh might come. Ratan was very worried about what will
happen to telecom. But he is happy now that Maran is not there. He is happy
with Raja.

TD:He likes Raja.

NR:Yeah. He is happy with
Raja. Bit shocking for Kamal Nath. He needed to be told that he’d gone a bit
overboard. What do you make of Anand Sharma?

TD:This is a very strong
message to him (Kamal Nath). I know him (Anand Sharma) reasonably well, not too
well. We’ll have to brief him. Educate him. He is new to this whole industry
area. He’s the trusted person and he has worked hard in this system. It is a
surprise. But it’s good. It’s thinking out-of-the-box for new names. Even Kamal
Nath for transport was a surprise but between you and me I had suggested it for
him. Big time. Because highway construction has to be a priority. He is a doer.
You can make your 15 per cent on this. You can do national service, and also
make money. And do really something worthwhile. Because Baalu has screwed up
for five years.

NR:Yeah, this is still an
ATM for Kamal Nath.

TD:Absolutely. You have a
good trip.

NR:I’ll pray for you. You
have a good trip too. Also, just one thing—this India Brand Equity Foundation.
My team made a presentation on Wednesday. And they said that (G.K.) Pillai
(then commerce secretary) had already made up his mind on Dilip Cherian (of the
PR agency Perfect Relations). I was surprised. Although Suhel had indicated
that we are still in the reckoning but they were not even interested in seeing
the presentation. They gave it to Cherian. I just wanted to let you know. Was
wondering if Pillai had a good equation with Cherian. Not to worry...

Here, Radia claims how she has used Barkha Dutt,
group editor, English news, NDTV, to get Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari to
issue a statement clearing some of the misgivings voiced by T.R. Baalu about
portfolio allocation. He had been sent to Delhi to meet the Congress leadership
with a message from Karunanidhi. But Baalu also spoke to the media. Radia also
talks about the need to get Raja in for a second stint as telecom minister and
to keep Dayanaidhi Maran out.

NR:You see the problem is
not what we all are thinking. I had a long chat with Raja and Kani last night.
Azhagiri is a mass leader. He controls a very large following. You are saying I
will give him MoS Independent and you will give Maran cabinet is where the
hiccup has come up.

RKC:Correct. Correct.

NR:He (Azhagiri) is a
bigger leader than Baalu and all of them put together. So all the Tamilians got
up and said what is this. Whatever his following is. Local MPs and MLAs who
support him said how can Maran be given a cabinet post when this guy is being
given (MoS). Then Azhagiri turned around and said not only him but how come
Kani is not being given a cabinet post. So then he said to his father to drop
Baalu and Maran.Toh woh phir uske baad, Maran ko usne bola tum MoS lo.
Maran ko bola usne. To usne kuchh nahin bola. Kani told me.

In the midst of the battle between the Ambani
brothers over gas resources, Radia gets senior journalist Vir Sanghvi to favour
her client Mukesh’s interests through his column. In this conversation, Vir
gives her a preview of what is going to appear in his now-discontinued column
Counterpoint. “Dressed it up like a plea to Manmohan Singh, so that it won’t
look like an inter-Ambani battle,” he says. “Very nice,” replies an approving
Radia.Niira
Radia:Hi

Vir Sanghvi:Hi. Niira?

NR:Yeah, yeah.

VS:Okay, wrote it. I’ve
dressed it up as a piece about how public will not stand for our resources
being cornered; how we’re creating a new list of oligarchs, the example I’ve
given is the court case which says that mummy will decide...that it’s all a
family, that why should our gas be decided by Mummy? I’ve given the example of
the deal they struck on Sasan (in Madhya Pradesh where Anil Ambani has a power
plant) after the Samajwadi Party supported the government and they went back on
the deal and they went back to their old position. I’ve given this example of
how spectrum is being allocated and I’ve said that while people have a certain
tolerance for corruption in this country, they’ve no tolerance for people
cornering our assets and cornering our scarce resources. What’s going to happen
in this country is we’re going to become a country run by oligarchs like Russia
who nobody can control and that Manmohan Singh must act because he’s basically
giving away the future of our children.

NR:Very nice.

VS:Yeah?

NR:Lovely. Thank you, Vir.

VS:It’s... It’s dressed up
like a plea to Manmohan Singh, so it won’t look like an inter-Ambani battle,
except to people in the know.

Radia is speaking to Vajpayee’s foster
son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya. They discuss the problem the former is having
with Unitech which is not clearing the dues to the Tatas. Radia says that the
Unitech people believe they own commerce minister Anand Sharma. Also discussed
is Airtel’s Sunil Mittal’s need for a liaison person. Bhattacharya says he has
been inquiring about Radia.Ranjan
Bhattacharya:Hello.

Niira Radia:Sorry, I had to come out
and talk.

RB:You know I am usually
not used to being stood up.

NR:Arre kya hua... I really didn’t even know. I can come after this meeting. What
time does your lunch finish?

RB:I am joking. I am
joking.Achchha aap yeh batao, who are you (meeting) what did you say at 4.30?Gurgaon mein
kaun hai?

NR:Unitech.

RB:Haan.
Ohh! No, no, don’t cancel it.

NR:They will never
otherwise ever give me time, you know, they’ve been avoiding me. I need to go
and see them.

RB:Now they have sold two
hotels, boss, they have got some money.

NR:They keep on playing up
and of course it’s sad but they talk about everything else under the sun other
than what is outstanding. It’s crazy. I mean I’ve just saved them from 60 crore
of a bounced cheque with Tatas, another one, right?

RB:Another one?

NR:Haan.
Because all their cheques have bounced.Abhi 250 crores ka outstanding hai.

RB:My god!

NR:Aur...all
their cheques have bounced. This last one has also bounced. He told me this
will go through when I was there. I mean I don’t know how many times I’ve
stopped them from going into liquidation.

RB:You see...haan. You are right. And they think Anand Sharma is
proprietary.

NR:Maine kaha—I am very happy because now you can settle all the bills (both laugh).

RB:No. No. Be tough on
them.Achchha
abhi aisa hai, there is no rush. But
Monday I am whole day in a board meeting...then it goes on to Tuesday. Now the
other thing is Sunil...Mittal. Yesterday I was at that idiot’s place na, what’s
his name...I think I am getting amnesia...Suhel Seth’s place and Sunil met me
briefly and he said I mean in his Punjabi styleyaar tu sab nu jaanda hai, so maine
kaha yaarSunil what do you want?Toh kainda hai
ki yaar... He mentioned you. He
said my problem is I need somebody (for liaison). I can’t handle it. I told
you. Now he wants to meet me sometimes during this weekend. That’s why I was
keen to meet you so that we are on the same page.

NR:Listen what I can do
is.... The reason I had to come here is because Tarun Das is stepping down on
Sunday (from CII). And to them it’s a big thing. It’s like almost like the
father is leaving them or, I am sorry, left home so the poor children have no
father. You should see they are running around like headless...listen, this
organisation has been built over 40 years. I can’t believe it.

RB:They are feeling
orphaned.

NR:Yeah, they are
completely orphaned. I am so shocked. I can leave here in another hour, max.

Atal Behari Vajpayee’s foster son-in-law
recounts to Radia a recent conversation he had with Mukesh Ambani on Bharti’s
Sunil Mittal seeking Niira Radia’s services on a “loose arrangement”. In
another conversation, Ranjan confirms that he had met Mittal at Suhel Seth’s
house. In yet another chat, Radia checks with Ratan Tata’s office if he is okay
with her meeting Sunil Mittal. NR:Hi.

RB:Hi, welcome back.

NR:Thank you. Just got
back, haan.

‘I just saved (Unitech) from 60 cr of a
bounced cheque.’

RB:Okay, okay, listen, bhai, I told you... What I
suspected is true...He (Mukesh Ambani) had called for something and then I just
told him I met Niira at a social function, and I said she just mentioned that,
you know, Sunil (Mittal) wants to work...Sunil wants her to work for him on
a...just on some loose arrangement. And I said she was telling me that you, you
are actually encouraging it. So he turns around and sayshaan boss, toh
kya hua, apne ko kya hai,
let everybody do well etc etc. But there was no objection, so I said MDA, why
don’t you come out level with me... I said I haven’t spoken to her on these
lines, but I am asking you, I said are you okay with it? So you know, his words
were: he says, boss, you know me better, I give people lot of latitude, it’s for
them to decide. So I said basically, then that means, you know, aap, you’re not
very keen. So he says,mujhe kal phone aa gaya tha, now this is yesterday, he’s telling me,
yesterday evening. He says to close the loop, so that you know, she’s not going
to work for him because he wants a loose arrangement; and she said there’s
nothing informal. So he says she’s not going to work for him.

Here, the former bureaucrat and JD(U) Rajya
Sabha MP speaks about the Congress sending feelers to JD(U) to join the
government. He also takes a swipe at Murli Deora for being incompetent and
wonders whether Mukesh Ambani had anything to with the former’s induction into
the cabinet. There is a reference to Praful Patel as “minister for Naresh Goyal
of Jet Airways” and “now the minister for Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher Airlines”.

N.K. Singh:Jitin Prasada has made
it good because he’s got petroleum as the MoS where he can do a lot because the
incompetence of Murli (Deora) is proverbial. Every time a question comes up in
any House of Parliament he is more busy trying to appease that questioner.
Perhaps Mukesh (Ambani) has swung it for him because there is a continuity in
the petroleum ministry. But Murli is an incompetent minister, he may be a good
man. So, hopefully, there is a chance for Jitin Prasada to do something. That’s
the other comment I have. Otherwise, in terms of the finance ministry, it’s
pretty much...I was all the time convinced that Montek will not make it.

Niira Radia:Yeah.

NK:Because he tried much
earlier, you know, during the transition...and didn’t cut ice. And this time
pitted against Pranab (Mukherjee), there was no chance.

NR:What about Planning
Commission? Will he go back to that?

NK:Yeah, yeah, he’s been
told he will go back to some cosmetic changes there and bide time. I mean the
best bet for him would be if he can try the Rajya Sabha ticket of Jaiprakash
Aggarwal which will be one seat in Delhi which will be vacant. If he can’t do
that, then in August, there are seven nominated MPs whose posts are falling
vacant. One of them is Bimal Jalan (former RBI governor) and unhesitatingly,
Montek is as much of a professional economist as Bimal.

NR:Correct.

‘But he has destroyed the sector. Look at
the way he has de stroyed the national carrier.’

NK:And so I think, you know, he can try for that,
of course, if you become a nominated MP, you cannot become a minister, doesn’t
prevent him from becoming a deputy chairman so that’s the thing there to be
seen and watched. Jairam has a very good assignment. I spoke to him in the
morning and Environment and Forests is going to be a very important
responsibility in the next two years with Copenhagen and the world in general
becoming more conscious about global warming and expecting us to undertake a
lot of measures, so that’s that.

NR:Is he happy with it? I
was told he may not be happy.

NK:He is very happy. But
let me tell you there are a couple of things. There is a degree of temporariness
in this because the sparring between the Congress and the ncp will increase in
the next two months as you draw close to the Maharashtra elections. As it is,
yesterday on the TV, there was sparring between Prithviraj Chauhan and Praful
Patel. By the way, Praful would be very unhappy, because every old guy has been
given an elevation, leg up. But he has been kept waiting. He could have been
made cabinet minister for civil aviation.

NR:But he has destroyed the
sector. I am sorry....I do have a view on this. He hasn’t done justice to the
sector.

NK:I think he has worked as
a minister for Naresh Goyal (Jet Airways).

NR:Now he works for Mallya.
That’s it. Look at the way he has destroyed the national carrier.

NK:The national carrier has
gone into decline. In my view they should have shuffled him around a bit. But I
guess this shuffle would come depending on the dynamics in the next two months
on how they do the Maharashtra (assembly) thing...so this is one area to be
watched. The other area to be watched is the mercurial behaviour of Mamata, she
is as it is against disinvestment, privatisation, so she may act as a carrier
of many of the ideas which were earlier attributed to the Left. Their interest
in us continues in a manner of things because Jairam asked me what’s JD(U)
deciding to do and the fact that they have virtually zero presence in Bihar is
an indication of...of...keeping...

NR:...the door open?

NK:Yeah, because they had
an option taking Laloo and Raghuvansh. (But) they kept the door open. They had
an option of taking that fellow Digvijay Singh who won as an independent. They
didn’t, so that option remains open. But we have to make up our mind and the
strategy...we are going to brainstorm—you and me—one of these days.Haan, okay?

Radia talks to Warrier, who refers to a
conversation he had with Reliance’s P.M.S. Prasad. On the matter of raging
rumours about a settlement between the Ambani brothers, Warrier reports what
Prasad says happened in a conversation with petroleum minister Murli Deora—who
leaked it to the media (“too much pressure being built”) in order to “deflect”
attention from the real matter—the dividing up of resources, including gas.Manoj
Warrier:The other is, then he
(P.M.S. Prasad) said that you know, that we should tighten our intelligence a
little more. You know this entire settlement story, you know where it is coming
from? Murli Deora has given this story... I (Prasad) was sitting with him
(Deora) and he (Deora) said that you know there is too much pressure being
built, so let me deflect it, let me say, “settlement”. So I told him ‘Uncle kyon kar rahe ho
aap aise’? So he said, no-no,
there is too much pressure being built, so let the media get diverted a little.
I (Manoj) said I’m not...Sir I’m not sure whether, I mean...I’m sure that is
true. But I also can tell you that Y.P. Trivedi has been talking, saying that
he is going to ask Mukesh to look into how he can settle this issue. So he said
‘OK’. Then he said that you know, Amitabh Jhunjhunwala and Chalsani are not
talking to the press. Hmm...Amitabh is away in the US, and Chalsani is
somewhere in Vijayawada on a holiday.

Radia is calling up N.K. Singh to seek his views
on the new cabinet. For Singh, it’s more of a jumbo cabinet, akin to Lord
Shiva’s baraat that included many species of fauna. Kamal Nath’s alleged
penchant for corruption gets reinforced in this conversation in which Singh
says that divesting him of the commerce minister’s portfolio was an indication
that he had crossed the line.Niira
Radia:Hi! Hi! I am sorry we’ve
not been able to connect. How are you?

N.K. Singh:Hi, how are you?

NR:I am very well.

NK:Lot of fun and
games...no?

NR:Isn’t it,
yes...yes...isn’t it? What does it look like? I mean, what do you think of the
new cabinet?

NK:Ok. It’s a bit of a what
in Hindi...I can’t explain to you, there is a particular proverb in
Hindi...which says:Shivji ki baraat...

NR:Ha, ha...achchha.

NK:He, he...means the baraat of Shivji consisted of many varieties and many
species...from scorpions, serpents to elephants to tame deer and....

It has a bit of a jumbo
staff, which will have to be seen. By and large, conventional wisdom has
prevailed in giving the key departments to the old and trusted. Some surprise
elements...hmm...a spectacular jump for Anand Sharma.

NR:Yeah...what do you make
of that?

NK:I am still puzzled.
Because I knew he was close to 10, Janpath. But in the meantime, he had done a
lot to cultivate the PM...uh...personally...you know...PMO...hanging around
(Kutty) Nair’s (principal secretary in the PMO) room...PM’s. And in the I&B,
when he was given...you know...he was in touch with PMO (not clear) which he believes has paid off, in terms of a
strategy.

So this is...but I still
don’t think I have been able to say the last word on this...okay?

NR:Okay.

NK:So, this is one. The other
thing is a spectacular decline of Kamal Nath...

NR:Yes.

NK:That, I explain, and by
the way, to make matters worse for him, even shipping has been taken away from
him.

NK:Literally on the road...
So...well, you can always hide it by saying that highways are, after all, one
black point of that government and they want to make up with it, but I think
there’s much more than meets the eye and I think that, you know, a lot of the
stuff which you and I know is going on...somehow got noticed and
reported...some ways it is supposed to also give a signal that perhaps it had
been overdone, I mean...whatever...and the fact that also Baalu was kept out,
of the roads.

NR:Well, that was more of
Karunanidhi’s decision because he’s under pressure from his family.

NK:Yeah, but on the other
hand, he...even if he had...had come, he would not have gone back to the same
charge of old.

NR:Of course not, of course
not.

NK:So I think in Kamal
Nath’s case, it’s a clear indication that look, enough is enough, I don’t think
right now he needs another atm. He has one going for many years and...there’s
enough for him...which is...so that’s the other thing....

Jyotiraditya has made it
good. Getting MoS...he didn’t make it to an independent charge...but he has got
a pretty important thing in commerce and industry, with a young man, Anand
Sharma, to work with.

So, good for Jyotir, I
think. It is an opportunity to do a lot because it is a big charge...you
know...I have been in that ministry...it is a big charge, Niira. wto will
gather momentum...but though not this year. wto does not only depend on us...it
depends on...

In this conversation between Niira Radia and the
former CII head, they discuss cabinet formation in UPA-II. Radia wants Tarun
Das to convey to the Congress that its leaders should talk to Kanimozhi, not to
Dayanidhi Maran. She also pushes A. Raja for the telecom portfolio. The
conversation reveals the divide in the Karunanidhi family, with Azhagiri and
Kanimozhi on one side and the Marans on the other. Tarun
Das:I’m going to South
Africa for two matches tonight. And now I’m going in for the swearing-in
ceremony for which I have been invited without your friends from the DMK.

Niira Radia:Yeah... But can you
please tell the Congress, please, they are listening to Dayanidhi Maran. They
are talking to the wrong people. Karunanidhi does not even know what’s going
on. He gave them (Congress) a list on Monday night, which was Dayanidhi Maran
for railways; Azhagiri, surface (transport); Kanimozhi, health; power, Baalu;
and telecom, Raja.

TD:Yeah.

NR:He (Karunanidhi) knew
power and railways would get dropped. He needed them (Congress) to come back
and say I cannot give you this and this. He’d have dealt with the rest of it
himself. Instead, Congress went into a bit of a tizzy, didn’t know what they
were saying to him, and it went all wrong and it allowed for Dayanidhi Maran to
drive the bargaining. Whatever they’re telling Dayanidhi is not going back to
Karunanidhi in its correct form. He’s (Maran) distorting everything that’s
going to him.

TD:Hmm...

NR:He’s (Karunanidhi) got
one daughter saying she will commit suicide and his wife saying I will do
this.... So if the Congress dealt with that list they may have got away with
just two members of cabinet, because Azhagiri had agreed to be MoS independent
if Dayanidhi was not made a cabinet minister.

TD:Yeah...

‘I’ll take (Raja) to him. Sunil has been
very arrogant too.’

NR:But Dayanidhi kept saying to his leader that
Congress and Ahmed Patel have been in touch with him and Ahmed Patel has asked
him to come for the swearing-in, while the leader has not authorised him to
negotiate. They should have dealt with it through Kanimozhi who has been with
him right through. Even the PM did that. They should have gone through
Kanimozhi and she would have taken them directly to her father. The matter
would have been resolved there. He does not want four. The only reason that
four are being asked is because Azhagiri cannot be an MoS when Maran is a
cabinet minister. So when they offered three and Maran kept on telling them
that they wanted him to be a cabinet minister...

TD:Why don’t they keep
Maran out? Why do they have to have Maran?

NR:He (Karunanidhi) needs a
little help from the Congress on that because he thinks that Congress is
supporting Maran. If Congress gives him a message that we have not given any
message to Maran at all then they will get away with two cabinet because
Kanimozhi and Azhagiri have both agreed that we will stick to MoS independent
and Raja and Baalu can come—it does not matter—or we will bring someone new (instead
of Baalu).

TD:Manmohan Singh does not
want Raja and Baalu.

NR:He’s okay with Raja but
he does not want Baalu.

TD:Yeah, Baalu has been
terrible.

NR:He does not want Baalu
so if someone can tell that to Karunanidhi about Baalu he’ll be fine with that.
But he’s said about Raja that he cannot leave him out because he is a Dalit. I
have to keep him in. And he’s closest so he won’t leave him out.

TD:But can he be put
somewhere apart from telecom?

NR:You are far better
having Raja in telecom because... he will behave himself. Trust me, he will
behave himself.

TD:But there are too many
people against him.

NR:That’s only Sunil
Mittal...Raja has promised he will speak to Sunil Mittal and deal with the
matter.

TD:Sunil has lobbied
against him, I believe, I haven’t talked to Sunil.

NR:But telecom is being
given to them (DMK) and I will tell you one thing that Karunanidhi will give
telecom only to Raja and not to Dayanidhi. He’s very clear about that.

TD:Okay. I will talk to
them (Congress).

NR:I can assure Sunil this
will not be a problem. Raja will not go against him. He has to trust me on that
one.

TD:Okay.

NR:I’ll take him (Raja) to
him...Sunil has been very arrogant with him as well....it’s not just
one-sided...if he hadn’t been the way he was this problem wouldn’t have arisen.

TD:Okay, I will talk (to
Congress). I will let you know.

NR:But tell them to talk
through Kanimozhi...

TD:Okay, done.

NR:Just let them know that
even Karunanidhi is no great shakes about Baalu or Maran if Congress gives them
(DMK) a little hint. They should just say that we are not pushing for Maran and
Congress will drop him like a hot potato. They hate him.

Radia is calling up N.K. Singh to seek his views
on the new cabinet. For Singh, it’s more of a jumbo cabinet, akin to Lord
Shiva’s baraat that included many species of fauna. Kamal Nath’s alleged
penchant for corruption gets reinforced in this conversation in which Singh
says that divesting him of the commerce minister’s portfolio was an indication
that he had crossed the line.Niira
Radia:Hi! Hi! I am sorry we’ve
not been able to connect. How are you?

N.K. Singh:Hi, how are you?

NR:I am very well.

NK:Lot of fun and
games...no?

NR:Isn’t it,
yes...yes...isn’t it? What does it look like? I mean, what do you think of the
new cabinet?

NK:Ok. It’s a bit of a what
in Hindi...I can’t explain to you, there is a particular proverb in
Hindi...which says:Shivji ki baraat...

NR:Ha, ha...achchha.

NK:He, he...means the baraat of Shivji consisted of many varieties and many
species...from scorpions, serpents to elephants to tame deer and....

It has a bit of a jumbo
staff, which will have to be seen. By and large, conventional wisdom has
prevailed in giving the key departments to the old and trusted. Some surprise
elements...hmm...a spectacular jump for Anand Sharma.

NR:Yeah...what do you make
of that?

NK:I am still puzzled.
Because I knew he was close to 10, Janpath. But in the meantime, he had done a
lot to cultivate the PM...uh...personally...you know...PMO...hanging around
(Kutty) Nair’s (principal secretary in the PMO) room...PM’s. And in the
I&B, when he was given...you know...he was in touch with PMO (not clear) which he believes has paid off, in terms of a
strategy.

So this is...but I still
don’t think I have been able to say the last word on this...okay?

NR:Okay.

NK:So, this is one. The
other thing is a spectacular decline of Kamal Nath...

NR:Yes.

NK:That, I explain, and by
the way, to make matters worse for him, even shipping has been taken away from
him.

NK:Literally on the road...
So...well, you can always hide it by saying that highways are, after all, one
black point of that government and they want to make up with it, but I think
there’s much more than meets the eye and I think that, you know, a lot of the
stuff which you and I know is going on...somehow got noticed and
reported...some ways it is supposed to also give a signal that perhaps it had
been overdone, I mean...whatever...and the fact that also Baalu was kept out,
of the roads.

NR:Well, that was more of
Karunanidhi’s decision because he’s under pressure from his family.

NK:Yeah, but on the other
hand, he...even if he had...had come, he would not have gone back to the same
charge of old.

NR:Of course not, of course
not.

NK:So I think in Kamal
Nath’s case, it’s a clear indication that look, enough is enough, I don’t think
right now he needs another atm. He has one going for many years and...there’s
enough for him...which is...so that’s the other thing....

Jyotiraditya has made it
good. Getting MoS...he didn’t make it to an independent charge...but he has got
a pretty important thing in commerce and industry, with a young man, Anand
Sharma, to work with.

So, good for Jyotir, I
think. It is an opportunity to do a lot because it is a big charge...you
know...I have been in that ministry...it is a big charge, Niira. wto will
gather momentum...but though not this year. wto does not only depend on us...it
depends on...

In this conversation between Niira Radia and the former CII head,
they discuss cabinet formation in UPA-II. Radia wants Tarun Das to convey to
the Congress that its leaders should talk to Kanimozhi, not to Dayanidhi Maran.
She also pushes A. Raja for the telecom portfolio. The conversation reveals the
divide in the Karunanidhi family, with Azhagiri and Kanimozhi on one side and
the Marans on the other. Tarun
Das:I’m going to South
Africa for two matches tonight. And now I’m going in for the swearing-in
ceremony for which I have been invited without your friends from the DMK.

Niira Radia:Yeah... But can you
please tell the Congress, please, they are listening to Dayanidhi Maran. They
are talking to the wrong people. Karunanidhi does not even know what’s going
on. He gave them (Congress) a list on Monday night, which was Dayanidhi Maran
for railways; Azhagiri, surface (transport); Kanimozhi, health; power, Baalu;
and telecom, Raja.

TD:Yeah.

NR:He (Karunanidhi) knew
power and railways would get dropped. He needed them (Congress) to come back
and say I cannot give you this and this. He’d have dealt with the rest of it
himself. Instead, Congress went into a bit of a tizzy, didn’t know what they
were saying to him, and it went all wrong and it allowed for Dayanidhi Maran to
drive the bargaining. Whatever they’re telling Dayanidhi is not going back to
Karunanidhi in its correct form. He’s (Maran) distorting everything that’s going
to him.

TD:Hmm...

NR:He’s (Karunanidhi) got
one daughter saying she will commit suicide and his wife saying I will do
this.... So if the Congress dealt with that list they may have got away with
just two members of cabinet, because Azhagiri had agreed to be MoS independent
if Dayanidhi was not made a cabinet minister.

TD:Yeah...

‘I’ll take (Raja) to him. Sunil has been
very arrogant too.’

NR:But Dayanidhi kept saying to his leader that
Congress and Ahmed Patel have been in touch with him and Ahmed Patel has asked
him to come for the swearing-in, while the leader has not authorised him to
negotiate. They should have dealt with it through Kanimozhi who has been with
him right through. Even the PM did that. They should have gone through
Kanimozhi and she would have taken them directly to her father. The matter
would have been resolved there. He does not want four. The only reason that
four are being asked is because Azhagiri cannot be an MoS when Maran is a
cabinet minister. So when they offered three and Maran kept on telling them
that they wanted him to be a cabinet minister...

TD:Why don’t they keep
Maran out? Why do they have to have Maran?

NR:He (Karunanidhi) needs a
little help from the Congress on that because he thinks that Congress is
supporting Maran. If Congress gives him a message that we have not given any
message to Maran at all then they will get away with two cabinet because Kanimozhi
and Azhagiri have both agreed that we will stick to MoS independent and Raja
and Baalu can come—it does not matter—or we will bring someone new (instead of
Baalu).

TD:Manmohan Singh does not
want Raja and Baalu.

NR:He’s okay with Raja but
he does not want Baalu.

TD:Yeah, Baalu has been
terrible.

NR:He does not want Baalu
so if someone can tell that to Karunanidhi about Baalu he’ll be fine with that.
But he’s said about Raja that he cannot leave him out because he is a Dalit. I
have to keep him in. And he’s closest so he won’t leave him out.

TD:But can he be put
somewhere apart from telecom?

NR:You are far better
having Raja in telecom because... he will behave himself. Trust me, he will
behave himself.

TD:But there are too many
people against him.

NR:That’s only Sunil
Mittal...Raja has promised he will speak to Sunil Mittal and deal with the
matter.

TD:Sunil has lobbied
against him, I believe, I haven’t talked to Sunil.

NR:But telecom is being
given to them (DMK) and I will tell you one thing that Karunanidhi will give
telecom only to Raja and not to Dayanidhi. He’s very clear about that.

TD:Okay. I will talk to
them (Congress).

NR:I can assure Sunil this
will not be a problem. Raja will not go against him. He has to trust me on that
one.

TD:Okay.

NR:I’ll take him (Raja) to
him...Sunil has been very arrogant with him as well....it’s not just
one-sided...if he hadn’t been the way he was this problem wouldn’t have arisen.

TD:Okay, I will talk (to
Congress). I will let you know.

NR:But tell them to talk
through Kanimozhi...

TD:Okay, done.

NR:Just let them know that
even Karunanidhi is no great shakes about Baalu or Maran if Congress gives them
(DMK) a little hint. They should just say that we are not pushing for Maran and
Congress will drop him like a hot potato. They hate him.

Radia is talking to Yatish, a colleague, about a
meeting with A. Raja. She also discusses how Vir Sanghvi has agreed to do a
series of interviews and take questions framed by her. Additionally, she has a
complaint against Bodhisattva Ganguli, resident editor, Economic Times,Mumbai.

Y:Mere ko pata hai. Maine morning mein bhi message dala
tha. Tohhis thing was that we
still have to check.

NR:I am right now rushing
between a few things. Tell him to confirm.Main aa jaoongi, chaar-paanch baje tak
office. If I can finish early
enough with Kani (Kanimozhi) and I can come as quickly as I can.

Y:Okay.

NR:Tum ek kaam karna. I am on my way to Gurgaon from South Avenue. I will reach, er,
back at CP, probably 4.30. Now do me one favour. Take out the printout (of the
budget). Also take out the creditors’ list...complete...previous creditors,
right?Manoj Warrier se baat kara lo. Tell him, Vir Sanghvi ka interview CNN-IBN,
CNBC...he wants to interview Mukesh Ambani. So, Manoj needs to send me a mail
and also needs to prepare the questions Vir Sanghvi should ask Mukesh. He’s
agreed to do what we suggest. It’s a fresh series of interviews for the next
few weeks but he wants to start with Mukesh Ambani or Ratan Tata.Ek mail bhej
do, meri mail se, Debashish ko, Ravi Kant koand Jonathan and
Vishal, to say that I had a
call with Bodhisattva Ganguli fromET (Economic Times), he is the resident editor (in Mumbai). He had called me for
something else. He sounded very disturbed that RBI should have allowed this (a
bank guarantee) and was questioning the behind-the-scene effort that would have
gone on for Tata to achieve this through SBI. I smell a serious agenda here.
Right? We already know that Bodhi is very well-entrenched with another (Anil
Ambani) group. I am just alerting you. It matters with us. We must take notice
of this. He was almost sounding angry with both SBI and RBI for having even
allowed this.

Y:For allowing this bank
guarantee to go through?

NR:Yeah. I smell a very
serious agenda with ET, Bombay. I am just
flagging this off now because it’s important. He was almost crying on the
phone...I questioned his intentions on this, and said to him...“you should be
happy that corporates are being supported”. He didn’t have an answer to it.

The print magazine erroneously mentioned the date of this
conversation as May 29, 2009